Norway is beautiful, very beautiful with its fjords and wilderness. We are lucky with the weather; usually it is raining all the time in Norway. At least that is one of the things Norway is famous for.

We have decided to boycott North Cape. We would have to pay 110 Euro, in entrance fees for us and our car just to get there. That is outrageous! Those people we spoke who had been there said it was not worth it. North Cape is just a piece of asphalt with a monument, and packed with tourists.

Instead we decided to go to Mehamn by Laksefjorden. We went as far out as we possibly could, on the peninsula that stretches right out in the Arctic Sea. We parked for the night at
Slettnes light house
N 71° 05,53', and waited for the midnight sun – completely alone. This is far better than being at a crowded North Cape and go along with the profiteers. It is to see the midnight sun, not setting in the Arctic Sea that is the actual attraction. Up here there the sun is not below the horizon for one and a half month, between May 11th and July 31st.

28/5 2007 Slettnes, Norway

Lat N 71° 05,53', Long E 28° 11,89' Today: 41 °F (
5 °C)

28 May 2007

84868 km

We are far up North in Norway. Swedish people think of Narvik as, as far North in Norway we could get. Right now we are more than 1 000 kilometers north of Narvik. Headed South West today towards Narvik. There are not many roads to choose from up here, just the E6 highway. But it is a good road and hardly any traffic.

We had planed to make some day trekking here in Norway. It is a beautiful country for trekking. But up here it is still very cold, wet and lots of snow. We guess we have to wait with that until we get further south.

29/5 2007 Langfjordsbotn, Norway

Lat N 70° 03,40', Long E 22° 27,04' Today: 50 °F (
10 °C)

29 May 2007

85368 km

We discovered that Treriksröset, the border point where Norway, Sweden and Finland meet is not far from here. That could be a nice day trekking we thought. We looked long and hard for a tourist information center, before we found one open for the season. They told us the best way was to cross the border in to Finland and walk from Kilpisjärvi.

We made a very quick visit to Finland. Only 300 meters from the border crossing the trail started. Unfortunately we didn’t get very far. It was still a lot of snow, and past days of sunshine had made the snow all wet and mushy. It would have been a wet struggle to walk all the way to Treriksröset, sinking deep down in the snow for every step. We decided not to go there, instead we went back to Norway.

30/5 2007 Storefjord, Norway

Lat N 69° 22,02', Long E 20° 07,43' Today: 64.4 °F (
18 °C)

30 May 2007

85713 km

Today er covered the last 220 kilometers to Narvik. We are extremely lucky with the weather. Blue sky and sun today again! This good weather Norway usually only have on their postcards.

We spent the afternoon in
Narvik
walking around and trying to get fresh shrimps. We thought it would the easiest thing in the world to find here, since this is a big fishing port for shrimps, but boy where we wrong about that. The only place in town that sold fresh shrimps was already closed when we got there.

In the evening we moved on towards Lofoten.

31/5 2007 Lofoten, Norway

Lat N 68° 28,98', Long E 17° 06,43' Today: 64.4 °F (
18 °C)

31 May 2007

86012 km

Today we at least got fresh shrimps! In Harstad we bought a huge bag of
very fresh shrimps
for 19 Euro, before heading on for Lofoten. We had to take two car ferries to get there, and they are quite expensive 8 Euro and 11 Euro. But in December this year the new road from the mainland to Lofoten are supposed to be ready.

In the evening we had a shrimp feast; just the two of us, and the scenery at Raftsundet was awesome. The plan was the eat and die kind of thing. We had 1 ½ kg fresh shrimps to finish. Some of them big and meaty as crayfish tails. Yummy!

But what to do with all our smelly shrimp peel? We threw them back in to the sea and felt a bit uneasy about it. But in just a few minutes after the sea gulls had found them, they where all gone. Good!

1/6 2007 Lofoten, Norway

Lat N 68° 20,18', Long E 15° 01,93' Today: 71.6 °F (
22 °C)

01 Jun 2007

86244 km

The breakfast entertainment today was an Orca cub playing around in the water. It was great just sitting there watching the black fin disappearing and showing up again and again.

At Lofoten the snow is gone except for at the top of the mountains. We bought ourselves a trekking map and made a half day trek to a mountain right next to the town that had a great view over the surroundings. Swedish people are obviously not clever enough to get the trail markings and tracks in Norway. Sometimes we find bits and pieces of the trail, but now and then it just vaporizes and we have not a clue where to go.

The way up
it was no problem even though we lost the trail now and then. But on the way down on the other side we couldn’t even find the trail at all. Finally we decide to try to go down on our own over the wet, slippery, rocky, brushwood.

Coming down we were sweaty and dirty. We had parked by a small lake of meling water from the mountain tops. We thought, why not? This is a day good as any for this year’s first icy cold dip in the lake. Very refreshing!

2/6 2007 Lofoten, Norway

Lat N 68° 20,57', Long E 14° 44,83' Today: 75.2 °F (
24 °C)

02 Jun 2007

86357 km

What a lovely summer day! Today we took a longer trek to Geitgaljern at 1085 meters. But after climbing in a steep rocky mountain side all morning we decided to not follow through. Steep, rocky mountain sides are no fun. And it did seem to get any better.

We stopped to make late lunch high up in the valley, before going down again. The going down part was great fun since we slided the snow parts on our boots.

When we reached the lower parts of the valley we
stretched out
in the sun on the soft moss covered ground to relax. And we filled our water bottles from with clear, cold water from the stream next to us. Great life!

Then we went back to the lake to take a “shower” again. It was strange, the water was not at all as cold as yesterday. But we guess it was just our imagination. Today we knew what to expect getting in there.

3/6 2007 Lofoten, Norway

Lat N 68° 10,74', Long E 14° 12,74' Today: 59 °F (
15 °C)

03 Jun 2007

86419 km

Catharinas legs was sore after yesterdays steep climb. Bert has caught a cold and both of us have blisters on our feet. My god, have we turned in to wimps or what? Anyway, we cancelled the today’s planed trek.

Instead we went to The Borg Viking Museum. Not that exciting, really. Even if they where open, all activities had not started for this season yet.

At Lofoten we see signs about Rorbuer absolutely everywhere. At first we didn’t understand what it was all about. But Rorbua is the picturesque, red cottages we see everywhere along the coast.

Already in the years around 1100, King Oystein ordered the building of these cottages. They where temporary housing for the fishermen who came to Lofoten by row boat from far away, to join the rich winter fishing at Lofoten. Now they are rented out to tourists.

4/6 2007 Bodö, Norway

Lat N 67° 17,23', Long E 14° 23,42' Today: 71.6 °F (
22 °C)

04 Jun 2007

86604 km

In the middle of the night we arrived with the ferry in Bodö. The journey from Moskenes at Lofoten took 3,5 hour and the cost was about 75 Euro. It is about the same as the petrol cost for covering the same distance by car.

The strongest tide current in the world is just 330 kilometers south of Bodö. Every six hours four hundred millions cubic liter of water is squeezed through the kilometer long and 150 meter wide strait between Saltfjord and Skjerstadfjorden. The tide current Saltströmmen makes the water look like it is boiling, with swirls of up to 10 meters in diameter that are 4-5 meters deep.

It seems like we are going to be on national TV this weekend. A journalist from the morning show called us today to do some research. They have has plans for a 10 minute live interview at 9.40 AM on Sunday at TV4.

5/6 2007 Wild Camp, Norway

Lat N 66° 02,92', Long E 13° 36,54' Today: 71.6 °F (
22 °C)

05 Jun 2007

86909 km

When we passed Trondheim today, we saw our first Sundsvall traffic sign in two years. It felt strange; we are used see signs like Ho Chi Minh, Kuala Lumpur and Ulan Bator.

Instead of turning left for Sundsvall we continued south. We are heading for the SAAB Festival in Trollhättan to let our Saab meet his Saab friends, this weekend at the Saab 60-year anniversary.

6/6 2007 Oppdal, Norway

Lat N 62° 24,38', Long E 09° 38,18' Today: 75.2 °F (
24 °C)

06 Jun 2007

87489 km

We went all the way from Oppdal, passed Oslo and stopped right before the border. Several times we stopped to look for wireless internet connections to be able to communicate with and send pictures to TV4. God, we look forward to have our own internet connection at home!

Planned to stay the night at a camp site in Oslo, but they asked 30 Euro per night. On top of that they charged extra for shower and electricity. Have they gone completely mad? We would never pay that much for a simple campsite. That is ridicules.

Whent in to town to at lest get a beer at the famous Akker Brugge. It was impossible to find a parking space. There was lots multistory car parks everywhere, but they where all too low for us. Finally we got really pissed and decided to just leave Oslo. Just a few years ago we visited Oslo, so it was not that necessary for us to do it again.